UW Higher Education Mental Health, Substance Abuse Summit in Casper

March 6, 2012 — Substance abuse issues facing college
student military veterans will be the focus of the University of Wyoming's fifth
annual Higher Education Mental Health and Substance Abuse Summit March 28-29
in Casper.

The event will be at the Casper Ramada
Plaza Riverside. Early bird registration is $50 per person until March 16, and
$75 per person after that date. The UW Counseling Center sponsors the summit.

The summit is "to convene student
affairs, mental health and substance abuse professionals and administrators in
higher education in Wyoming to inform and inspire research and best practices
for college student mental health promotion and suicide and alcohol abuse
prevention," says Lena Newlin, Counseling Center assistant director.

Participants will exchange knowledge,
engage in dialogue, develop skills and strengthen the network of higher
education professionals working in mental health and substance abuse prevention
in Wyoming.

A pre-conference Gatekeepers "train-the-trainer"
session will be held be the day before the summit. The training is the first step
in educating participants about the importance of suicide prevention awareness.
The goal is to promote help-seeking behaviors and reduce the stigma of seeking
care for mental and behavioral health problems.

The summit will feature speakers and
panelists who will focus on veteran related issues:

Steven Barrett, UW College of
Engineering and Applied Science computer engineering professor and associate
dean for academic programs, will discuss the UW faculty perspective on the
issue.

Dolores Saucedo Cardona, associate dean
of students at UW, led the university's task force that helped establish the
Veterans Service Center on campus.

D.C. Faber, Faber Groupsynergy is the creator
of the "Faber Post Trauma Model" that assesses how and why soldiers are
"different" after war. He served as an assistant professor of military science
at UW.

Matt Gray, UW associate professor and
the director of clinical training in the UW Department of Psychology, is a
recognized expert in post-traumatic stress disorder.

Steven Price, Veterans Administration
(VA) in Cheyenne, brings an informed and broad perspective regarding mental
health in the VA and insights as a therapist.

The summit is funded primarily by a
Campus Suicide Prevention Grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration.